EU to amend customs laws as per promise in WTO, India studying proposal

In accordance with the earlier assurance to India, the European Commission is planning a new customs regulation to bring in more clarity to the issues like wrongful seizure of generic drug shipments in transit. But the draft regulation has not changed any existing rules, sending apprehensions among the public interest organisations. Though the new legislation may not exactly address the concerns raised by India on the issue of seizures, sources in the Commerce Ministry said it was too early to make a comment on the development as the legislation was still under process. According to the fact sheet released by the European Commission, “the concern was expressed by certain Members of the WTO, Members of the European Parliament and NGOs about the impact of such detentions on the trade in legitimate medicines.” The new proposal will clarify the procedure of customs regulation and the detention and destruction procedures would be made clearer. The Commission had claimed that the new regulation will replace regulation 1383/2003 and would address the concerns of India and Brazil, in particular by providing clarification and increasing legal certainty. However, when contacted by Pharmabiz, a senior official in the Commerce Ministry said the proposed legislation was still under process and “India would study it in detail first.” “We are still discussing the issue of seizures with the EU after we took up the issue with the World Trade Organisation. We hope that new legislation will have clear clauses to avoid wrongful seizures in the future,” he said. In 2008, shipments of legitimate generic medicines from India transiting through Europe were detained by customs authorities on charges of IP rights infringement, prompting widespread criticism from India and the developing countries, apart from many public interest groups. European Commission had assured to make improvements to its law. The draft proposal would now go to the European Council and the European Parliament for their comments. The Act will come into force only after both the council and the Parliament ratify the same. Source:Pharmabiz